Fabric for clothing industry and interior furnishing

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a fabric with a laminate structure comprising flexible materials such as skins, woven fabrics and/or paper, and at least one metal material. The fabric is manually deformable without high elastic or plastic recovery. According to the invention, the structure consists of a substantially planar metal core essentially comprising a non-ferrous metal, this core being less than 0,15 mm thick and having the firmness necessary to provide a flexible stiffness, the thickness and metallurgical treatment being adapted to the weight of the flexible materials, and a layer of flexible materials bonded to either side of the core. The fabric of the invention is for use in the clothing industry, furnishings, interior decoration and stage designing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fabric for garment-making anddecoration, more particularly a fabric intended for clothing,furnishing, decoration and scenography.

The main object of the present invention is to obtain a pliant material,having an aesthetic appearance on the outside, keeping its shape afterdeformation and therefore having no concomitant spring-back or plasticrecovery. Its pliancy must be such that it can be easily deformed byhand.

With such a material, it is therefore possible to mark folds and to varythe shape many times in succession, something which enable the finalfabric to be used again in clothing, furnishing, decoration, scenographyor equivalent, which fabric can thus change aesthetic appearance in itsgeometrical perception, including sculptural perception.

Studies carried out have resulted in a complex fabric, combining pliantmaterials, such as skin, woven cloth or paper, these fabrics being givenstructure by a metallic core, providing a consistency in its pliantrigidity in such a way that the fabric exhibits properties of pliancy,of easy deformation without concomitant spring-back and of good strengthunder its own weight.

PRIOR ART

Various documents are known in the field. For example, DocumentEP-A-0,481,106 describes a decorative element comprising a layer ofmagnetic rubber, a layer of aluminum and a layer of leather, making itpossible to give said element various shapes. After giving said elementthe desired shape, the layer of magnetic rubber enables the element tobe easily fixed to any ferrous material. Such a decorative element, bythe very fact of the required thickness, cannot be used for clothingneeds and its use is quite limited. What is more, it does not exhibitthe correct ability to be bent through a large angle.

Document FR-A-2,088,105 describes an elastically deformable strip whichenables resilient supports to be made. This document is thereforecontrary to the spirit of the invention for which there must be nospring-back or plastic recovery.

As for Document EP-A-0,585,288, this describes a flexible laminate madeof plastic which can bear a holographic image.

All these documents are therefore remote from the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention therefore relates to a fabric exhibiting a laminatedstructure comprising pliant material, such as skin, woven cloth and/orpaper, and at least one metallic material, this fabric being able to bedeformed by hand without appreciable spring-back or plastic recovery.

According to the invention, this structure comprises:

a substantially planar metallic core essentially comprising anon-ferrous material, this core having a thickness less than 0,15 mmproviding consistency for pliant ridigity, and the thickness andmetallurgical treatment of which are adapted to the weight of the pliantmaterials; and

a layer of pliant material bonded on each side of the core.

According to a first embodiment, the metallic core is formed by a sheetof non-ferrous material, which sheet may possibly be made in the form ofa simple or woven grid.

According to another embodiment, the core is formed by a layer ofparticulate metallic elements, of the type comprising flakes, lamellae,shims or single wire in a pliant binder.

Preferably, the core is firstly covered, at least partially, with a filmmade of a plastic, such as high density polyethylene, having a thicknessof approximately 0,05 mm, this film adhering to the core.

Tests have shown that the non-ferrous metal must have, preferably, avery high purity and be chosen from the group comprising aluminum,copper, tin, bronze, brass, silver, gold, beryllium and alloys of these.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will be better understood, and further aims, advantagesand characteristics thereof will appear more clearly on reading thefollowing description of preferred embodiment which are given in a nonlimiting way.

As a person skilled in the art will have understood, the fabricaccording to the invention essentially comprises a laminated structurecomprising at least three layers, that is to say a metallic corearranged between two sheets or layers formed by a conventional pliantmaterial, such as a skin, a woven cloth or a decorative paper.

The three layers are bonded together. The bonding agents which can beused are those especially employed in the footwear and clothingindustry. A widely-used bonding agent will preferably be a stabilizedbonding agent not requiring activation. It is stabilized in itsconsistency determining its mechanical interaction with the layers. Thisis the case for a double-side adhesive applied by transfer underpressure. This bonding agent will therefore be neither flowing nordiffusing, but will penetrate partially into the coating by pressure,which penetration will determine, in a way complementary to the adhesivepower, a mechanical keying into the coating. The bonding agent willfurthermore have a binder effect on the other components of the finalfabric.

The thickness of the transferred bonding agent layer is betweenapproximately 20 μm and 2 mm and is, preferably, of the order ofapproximately 50 μm in order to favor this mechanical keying and inorder to limit the mass of bonding agent, in such a way that this masshas little impact on the characteristics of the final fabric which mustexhibit a pliant rigidity, without concomitant spring-back or plasticrecovery. Of course, this mass of bonding agent may be reduced bydiscontinuous deposition in the form of spots, for example, uniformlydistributed over the entire surface to be bonded, or else in the form ofa grid determining areas without bonding agent. In illustrativeembodiments, between approximately 2 and 6 grams of bonding agent per m²have been used.

Furthermore, the bonding must be chosen so as to exhibit at thefollowing properties: be barely sensitive or insensitive to thesubstances used for subsequently cleaning the final fabric; not migrateexcessively through the coating, not adversely affect either the pliancyor the hardness of the final fabric after drying, not spring-back orplastic recovery after bending the final fabric many times.

It will be understood that this bonding agent may be formed by anacrylic adhesive or by a solvent and elastomer, these being sprayed, butthis information in no way implies a limiting character. Indeed,chemical bonding or thermobonding may be completely favorably used,depending on the various properties desired of the final fabric and onthe actual type pliant coating chosen. In any case, the bonding agenthas a binder effect with regard to the components of the final fabric.

The metallic core is substantially planar and is made of non-ferrousmetal. This metal, if possible exhibiting very high purity, is favorablychosen from the group comprising aluminum, copper, tin, bronze, brass,silver, gold, beryllium and alloys of these. However, aluminum is thepreferred metal since it is one of the least dense and most resistant toresistant to repeated bending cycles, especially when its purity ishigher than 99%, and is less expensive.

This metal will receive at least one prior metallurgical treatmentchosen from those comprising a thermal annealing operation, degreasing,anodization, deoxidation and mixtures of these treatments. Obviouslythis treatment must be adapted, of course, to the aesthetic appearanceof the final fabric, but most of all to the type of bonding chosen forthe coating.

The thickness of the core is between approximately 30 μm and 90 μm.According to these applications, the preferred thickness be of the orderof approximately 30 μm or 70 μm.

The core may be made in various ways. It may, for example, be made inthe from of a continuous thin sheet of the chosen non-ferrous metal, butit may also be made in the form of a simple or woven grid. It may alsobe formed by a layer of particulate metal elements, of the typecomprising flakes, lamellae, shims or single wires which may or not bewoven, these being embedded in a pliant binder, such as a syntheticresin, latex or an acrylic in solution.

The metal, the embodiment and the associated heat treatment form asubstantially inseparable whole, in order to obtain the desiredproperties, especially a very high resistance to repeated bendingcycles, without crumpling, or shearing, or appreciable tearing or workhardening.

It should be noted that the core may favorably consist of several typesof the aforementioned embodiments combined together so as, for example,to strengthen the ends of the final fabric, while at the same timeallowing high pliancy in the areas presumed to be the most stressedunder multiple bending.

With the aim of improving these latter properties, it is possible, butnot absolutely essential, to coat, at least partially, the metallic corewith a film of plastic before bonding the pliant layer. Such a film maybe of a material coming from the petrochemical industry, for example ahigh-density polyethylene or a polyester, having a thickness of theorder of approximately 50 μm. This film will be able to adhere naturallyto the core or else be bonded to the depending on its nature.

The associated pliant layer may favorably be a skin, a woven cloth or anonwoven fabric, or paper, depending on the final aesthetic appearancedesired. However, it is obvious that a material not having a creasingmemory is preferred. A nonwoven material obtained by flocking is alsopreferred, since it exhibits a very high pliancy even when very thin. Itwill also be possible for this layer to consist of paper, which may ormay not be agglomerated. When the layer comprises a layer of skin, suchwill have a thickness of between approximately 0,3 and 1 mm and,preferably, of the order of approximately 0,6 mm, so as to preserve thepliancy of the final fabric.

In order to avoid the problem of transparency at certain points, ofinstability or of non-uniformity of the coloring of the fabric, it maybe judicious to color the aforementioned film or to add a very thinlining in the lamination between the core and the coating. It will alsobe possible to add a thin film layer to further reduce the creasingmemory of the final fabric.

A person skilled in the art will have understood that a final fabric isthus obtained whose shape may be easily modified by hand many times in asubstantially stable manner, that is to say without appreciablespring-back or plastic recovery. It should be noted that such a fabricmay possibly constitute, furthermore, a Faraday cage.

Although a description has been given of what are currently regarded asbeing the preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is obviousthat a person skilled in the art will be able to make various changesand modifications without departing from the scope of the presentinvention as defined by the appended claims.

What we claim is:
 1. A fabric exhibiting a laminated structure comprising pliant materials, of skin, woven cloth and/or paper, and at least one meterial, said fabric being able to be deformed by hand without appreciable spring-back or plastic recovery, said structure comprising:a substantially planar metallic core essentially comprising a non-ferrous metal, said core having a thickness less than 0,15 mm providing consistency for pliant rigidity, and the thickness and metallurgical treatment of which are adapted to the weight of said pliant material, and a layer of said pliant material bonded on each side of said core.
 2. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said metallic core is formed by a sheet of said non-ferrous metal.
 3. A fabric according to claim 2, wherein said sheet is made in the form of a woven grid.
 4. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said core is formed by a layer of particulate metallic elements, of the type comprising flakes, lamellae, shims or single wires, embedded in a pliant binder.
 5. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of said core is between approximately 30 and 90 μm.
 6. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said metallurgical treatment comprises at least one treatment chosen from the group comprising a thermal annealing operation, degreasing, anodization, deoxidation and mixtures of these treatments.
 7. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said layer is a flocked sheet.
 8. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said core is firstly covered, at least partially, with a film made of a plastic high-density polyethylene having a thickness of approximately 0.05 mm, said film adhering to said core.
 9. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein said non-ferrous metal is of very high purity type, chosen from the group comprising aluminum, copper, tin, bronze, brass, silver, gold, beryllium and alloys of these.
 10. A fabric according to claim 1, wherein the bonding of said layer to said core is carried out by means of an acrylic adhesive, by spraying a solvent and elastomer, by chemical bonding or by thermobonding. 